L.R. Baggs Dual-Source Mic/Pickup Mixer

Pickup features: Ribbon Transducer
Impedence or other specs: Ommni Directional condenser mic

Model of guitar or bass: J65M
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: Martin Thinline
Other pickups on guitar: none
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): Classic and modern rock
Reason for pickup change: The Thinline sound was "brittle"

Perceived output level: Very good
Tone: full and balanced
Sonic evaluation: Martin J65M plugged into a Laney GC60A acoustic/electric amplifier

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: 60's Classic Rock

Comments: There is not much I can add to the other reviews of this product. If you are looking for "that sound" to amplify your acoustic this is the product for you.
The features I like are:
The remote control which allows you to add/subtract the mic and overall volume, in the mono output mode. In the stereo output mode you can split the piezo and the mic through a "Y" cable. Then the remote becomes seperate volume for both pickups.
The low cut filter allows me to take some of the boom off my Jumbo bodied instrument.
The sound . . . it's great to actually hear my guitar ringing on top of all the other instruments.
I had mine installed by a luthier as it was more work than I felt comfortable undertaking. He charged me $65.00 which was more than fair. I'm going to try moving the mic around a little to see if I can find a sweeter spot than the installer found but otherwise he did a great job.

Break open the piggy bank 'cause this one is worth the price.

Pickup features: Active
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Gibson J-200
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: Dean Markley pro mag
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): blue grass, blues,contemporary Christian
Reason for pickup change: I bought my guitar without a pickup, and was borrowing a friends pro-mag. When I heard how bad his Martin D-28 sounded when he performed with the same pro-mag I started looking for a pickup that would let some of the natural warmth and accoustic tone get through.

Perceived output level: Output is hotter then any other accoustic P/U system I have seen or tried.
Tone: In one word !!AWESOME!! In more words, this system allows some of the natural accoustic warmth of your guitar to be amplified. If you want the "actual" sound of an accoustic guitar, without standing in front of a microphone, this is the system to get.
Sonic evaluation: I installed this system in a Gibson J-200 that did not have a pickup system in it. I plug it into an L.R. Baggs Para Accoustic D.I. which goes out to the snake and directly to the Mackie board at the front of the house. The signal then goes to an E.Q., and on to the power amps(we are currently not using any effects at all). All I can say is that the combination of this guitar, with this P/U system and the Para Accoustic D.I. is everything that I hoped it would be. The P/U compliments the guitar perfectly. I bought this guitar because it very obviously had the best tone, volume, and playability out of many, many Martins, Taylors, and Larivees, that I compared it to. This is the only P/U system that I have tried that allows any of the accoustical magic that this guitar possesses to shine through.
I have been playing it for about four months now. I have performed live with it, at least two dozen times, with accoustic drums, electric bass, electric guitar and keys, and I have never had any significant problem with feedback, even at pretty high monitor levels (high enough to hear yourself amongst all of the above). I have to say, however, that this may be partially because of the Para Accoustic D.I. This system actually allows me to hear MY Guitar's tone, not just an amplified signal. Before I installed this, I played this guitar into an audio technica condenser when I was not using the pro-mag. I love the sound of the guitar when it is played into a good mic. Well here is the bottom line: This P/U system probably doesn't sound quite as "natural" as when you play into a good Mic, BUT it comes pretty darn close. Plus, you don't have the bleed over problems from other instruments, and you don't have to be nailed down in front of a microphone. If you like the tone of your accoustic, and would like the freedom of an onboard P/U, this is your ticket!

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I use my accoustic for contemporary christian, blue grass, and blues...

Comments: The first time that I performed with this guitar/pickup combination I was a little nervous. I was wondering, was the investment worth it? Lets face it, this is not a cheap system. It was also an investment of time because I installed it myself. However, after we were done that day, a friend of mine who is an accomplished jazz and classical guitarist (he is a regular attender at the same church, and has heard me play this guitar many times in this setting) came up to the stage with a puzzled look on his face. He was looking at the little peanut shaped control unit that mounts at the sound hole of the guitar, and he asked, did you put a new pickup in your guitar? I said, I sure did. Then, he said, I don't know how many times I have heard accoustic guitars amplified, but the sound you're getting through that pickup is probably the best amplified accoustic guitar tone I have ever heard. All I can say is Me Too. It's hard to slap down your hard earned cash for a system that you don't know much about, but in this case, it was some of the best money I have ever spent. To my ear, this is the best, most natural, most accoustic sounding P/U that I have heard. When you mix the internal microphone in with the transducer, the natural warmth and woodiness will give you goosebumps. Yes, if you play a transducer, you will be amazed that your guitar doesn't really sound like an accoustc when you amplify it, but put a dual/source in and it will. If you play an accoustic that has good tone and you actually want to get that tone out to your audience, this is a good way to do it. Don't get me wrong, the Takamine and Ovation transducerized sound that so many people are used to, is not really bad. It is just not nearly as aurally pleasing as the real accoustic sound that you can get through this P/U system. It is kind of difficult to say that this is an awesome value when it costs as much as it does, but it really is when you consider the tone that you are throwing away when you use cheaper magnetic or simple transducer systems. Also, if you have this system, or any other for that matter, you have to get a para accoustic D.I. This awesome little direct box is a must for accoustic guitar. See my review on that as well.

Pickup features: Ribbon Transducer, Microphone, preamp, and soundhole remote
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Taylor 810
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: Unknown passive piezo
Other pickups on guitar: n/a
Artists using this pickup: too many to list
You musical style(s): mostly contemporary praise and worship, strumming and fingerpicking, but everything from bluegrass to rock
Reason for pickup change: Baggs system was far superior to the pickup I was using. Wanted to boost my signal and capture my Taylor 810's beautiful acoustic tone.

Perceived output level: Hotter than you'll ever need - biggest issue is getting lots of volume without feedback from the mic. Can be done but takes some experimentation.
Tone: Very natural balanced tone once you set the low end cutoff, mic and transducer mix, etc. Took me a few tries to get the sound I was looking for. Had to adjust bass cutoff to get rid of excessive rumble from my 810 (rosewood dreadnaught with lots of bottom end)
Sonic evaluation: At home I play through a PA system - Mackie mixer, Mackie Amp, Lexicon MPX 100 effects, JBL TR 125's. Played a couple of times in our (large) church through an awesome house system - used DI box plugged straight into house.
With a little experimentation I've been able to get great acoustic sound out of this pickup. For fingerstyle I use more mic, for hard picking / strumming I use more of the ribbon transducer. I've had this setup for several months now (see earlier review for more details) and I'm still exploring it's possibilities. Setup and preamp settings are critical - small changes make a big difference. Plan to spend a little time experimenting it before a performing live. Sometimes I have to turn mic way down or off if sound volume on stage is too high - especially if you're close to the drummer and bass player.
Lately I've been experimenting with the stereo mode. Why did I wait so long to try this! It sounds great - much more spacious and full. All you have to do is plug in a stereo Y cable and switch the internal preamp to stereo - then plug the other end of the cable into two channels of your mixer or blender etc. Using two channels on my mixer and a Boss 7 band eq box on the mic channel I get much more creative control over the signal. This setup allows you to eq each channel independently - then mix the two signals for the best sound. Would be interested to hear from others on using this pickup in stereo mode - and if there's a blender or processor out there you've had good luck with - i.e. Fishman Pocket Blender, LR Baggs Para Acoustic DI, Rane AP 13?????

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Play mostly contemporary praise and worship - this pickup works for every style I've tried - but to watch your settings when switching from a mellow fingerstyle song to harder strumming or picking. Switching to a pick boosts sound volume considerably for me - and increases risk of feedback or rumble.

Comments: I'm curently shopping for another guitar (maybe a Taylor 514 or 714) and I'm thinking seriously about another LR Baggs Dual Source - vs the Fishman prefix sytem they normally come with. Still wish it had a notch filter for the times I need to make quick on stage adjustments to avoid feedback. Battery location (inside body on neck heel)is great until you have to change it - then it stinks. Have to loosen all the strings and reach way up inside - sometimes hard not to disturb the ribbon transducer placement under the saddle when changing the battery. Fortunately the batteries last a long time and the pick up uses phantom power when available which further extends battery life.
The selling points for this pickup as I see them: Awesome acoustic sound - as good or better than anything on the market I've heard. Non-destructive install, cool soundhole mounted remote to control mix, volume, etc. High quality mic, ribbon transducer, and matched preamp, stereo mode!, and lots of setup options to get the sound you're looking for. If you can find one for $219.00 like I did (paid $60.00 to have it installed) it's a steal. LR Baggs has a great website if you want to research further.
I give it an overall 9

Pickup features: Active, Ribbon Transducer and Mic
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Taylor 810
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: Passive Piezo of unknown make
Other pickups on guitar: N/A
Artists using this pickup: Too numerous to mention
You musical style(s): Praise and Worship, rock, pop
Reason for pickup change: To get a more natural acoustic sound without excessive eq and setup time. Wanted to shift to active components. Read great reviews on LR Baggs gear and tried out a few at local shops - they sounded great on everything I played.

Perceived output level: Pretty hot, have to really watch out for feedback. Mic setting and gain levels on pre amp and mixer fairly critical if you want to blend the internal mic into your mix at higher volume levels.
Tone: Fairly balanced natural tone. Still working on optomal settings but I really like what I've been able to do with it so far.
Sonic evaluation: Currently running through a PA system, Mackie 1402 VLZ, Mackie 1400i amp, and JBL TR 125's, with minimal eq. Sounds pretty awesome now that I've worked around some of the feedback issues and figured out how to get the sound I was looking for. The mic gives a deeper "woody" tone which sounds great blended with the string tone from the ribbon transducer. Even by itself the ribbon transducer sounds better that any other pickup I've ever played on.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Praise and Worship music mostly - perfect for everything I've tried on it so far

Comments: I would definitely buy this system again. I especially appreciated the non destructive install on my Taylor 810. I compared to the Fishman products but liked the sound of the LR Baggs setup better. The soundhole remote is great - gives you just what you need for quick onboard adjustments. Might try out some sort of an EQ box - like the LR Baggs DI, or my Boss GE-7 stompbox 7 band eq, just to see if I gan get a little more tone control without having to go to the mixer board. A notch filter would be nice. All in all this is a hot setup and I'm extremely happy with it. Also played it in a vintage gibson, a seagull, and a newer Martin D1, through a variety of amps / PA systems. They all sounded great. The LR Baggs duet is very similar sound wise but has a pre amp and controls mounted in the upper bout of the guitar. Works very well if you're buying a new guitar and want a complete onboard system.

Pickup features: mic and piezo strip
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Simon and Patrick SP6 Cedar
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: none
Other pickups on guitar: none
Artists using this pickup: Too many to list
You musical style(s): Classic Rock, Blues, Jazz
Reason for pickup change:

Perceived output level: More output than I need. It's tough to regulate the feedback.....
Tone: Extremely well balanced. Turning up the mic really adds prescence.
Sonic evaluation: I use a smaller Cheri 35 watt, 2 channel, tube preamp & ss amp combo. The S&P gets absolutely great acoustic sound on the clean channel and can get raunchy when overdriven through the dirty channel. The only issue is massive feedback. The Mic and piezo are so sensitive that I can't drive my amp to it's limits. Have also run the setup through a Peavy PA and was blown away by the sound. My guitar instructor just sat back, smiled, then asked, "Whats the system you're using, who makes it, what did it cost you and where did you get it?" all in one long question.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Great for all my playing from fingerpicking to heavy chops.

Comments: Iw ould definitely be unhappy should this combo disappear. The sound is just what I was looking for and I couldn't be happier. I checked out all kinds of other systems but chose this one because I didn't want to damage my guitar with installation. My only problem is feedback, but it's to be expected. I just have to fiddle with the settings to get things set for each session. Overall, I think the combination of guitar and pickup are incredible and I lucked out.

Pickup features: Volume, and Microphone Volume
Impedence or other specs: Awesome everything

Model of guitar or bass: Vintage Martin D-28 (it's about 40 years old)
Position: neck
Pickup being replaced: Martin Thinline
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup: Duane Clark
You musical style(s): Praise and Worship
Reason for pickup change: This pickup it the only way to go for Acoustic. It has the best soulnd of any pickup i have every heard!

Perceived output level: Very hot pickup (sometimes to hot because it results in feedback, but it is worth the sound)
Tone: The best all around awesome!
Sonic evaluation: Great sound it does just what i want it to do.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: This guitar and pickup is a great match!

Comments: It is definetly worth buying again. I am planning on buying a Taylor 810ce and i am going to put a L.R. Baggs in there is no doubt in my mind. I am completely satisfied.

Pickup features: transducer and condenser mic
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Taylor 710
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: Dean Markley pro-mag
Other pickups on guitar: n/a
Artists using this pickup: ?
You musical style(s): singer-songwriter, jazz
Reason for pickup change: Heard live recording of my pro-mag - sounded very electric and foreign

Perceived output level: Comparable to electric guitar - onboard volume control too!
Tone: balanced - but go for too much warmth and risk feedback
Sonic evaluation: see below

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: pretty versatile - but not as much so as the guitar itself - see below

Comments: I had the pickup installed into my Taylor 710 and generally plug straight into whatever P.A. is available. It's sort of hard to A/B acoustic pickups because I could never find my any two guitars of the exact same model and vintage with different pickups installed at the same time. The important thing is that I've been quite happy with the sound. Without using the condenser mic (you can control the amount of condenser sound with a knob placed near the soundhole) it sounds as good as any Fishman transducer I've heard (which is to say acceptable but too bright) - dial in the condenser sound and you can add some warmth "woodiness" to your tone. This is great because you can actually capture some of the qualities of your guitar - whereas most transcucer pickups or soundhole things really just pick up the vibrations of your strings. However, the condenser mic is at a much higher risk of feedback.
Initially there was a problem with the installation, because the adhesive used to keep the battery inside the guitar couldn't tolerate California humidity. It fell out and the wires were severed. L.R. Baggs replaced my pickup with a brand new model which requires the battery to be screwed into the body. I'm bitter about having to pay for installation twice, but this new pickup should last me forever.
The main thing I'd like to say is that I had serious doubts about doing "surgery" on my prized Taylor and hated looking at the volume controls near the soundhole, but now see I did the right thing. I've never heard a pickup that does any acoustic guitar justice, but this really allows me to incorporate acoustic sounds into my live set, rather than just let me feel good by holding my acoustic and sounding electric. I wouldn't put a pickup in a pre-war Martin, but at this point I only have one quality acoustic guitar and I'd like to use it live. As far as the volume controls: as Woody from the Blue Rags told me, "Guitars are for playing - not for looking at"
tIf someone stole this pickup out of my guitar I'd get it reinstalled, after getting over the initial shock and confusion - but in the most likely scenario I'd lose the guitar as well. I'd probably look for a guitar with a transducer/condenser sytem pre installed. If not, the Taylor/Baggs combo is swell.
A worthwhile investment

Pickup features: undersaddle pickup with mic and blend and volume controls that fit in the soundhole
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Seagull S-12
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: none
Other pickups on guitar: none
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): folk and folk-rock
Reason for pickup change: new installation for playing with a band

Perceived output level: sufficiently hot
Tone: balanced
Sonic evaluation: The pickup by itself has some of the piezo quack, though not nearly as bad as the EMG I once had in another guitar, and without the ugly midrange in Ovations I've heard. Blend in some of the mic, and it sounds pretty realistic. I had a sound person ask me once why my guitar sounded so good through the PA.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: seems versatile

Comments: I'd probably buy it again. It sounds better than the Fishman systems I've heard, about on par with the B-Band with mic but more convenient, maybe not quite as good as the True Tone M-7, which has a different sonic signature. I like the control panel that fits in the sound hole, so you don't have to cut a hole in the guitar. I run it into an L.R. Baggs Para Acoustic DI box, which is excellent, for EQ and impedence matching.

Pickup features:
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass:
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced:
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s):
Reason for pickup change:

Perceived output level:
Tone:
Sonic evaluation: This is a followup to my previous review. I've received lots of emails
stating something to the effect of "I can't find one for the price
you paid." I don't know how to break this to some of you, but prices
periodically rise. I've had the unit for close to a year now - I don't
know what to tell you. Please, shop around, hammer-out your best deal
with whomever but please don't email me asking where you can get one
at my price. I'm not a dealer. Your understanding is greatly
appreciated.
PS- I'm still more than willing to answer other questions about the
Baggs. And yes, I still love it.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable:

Comments:

Pickup features: Active ribbon transducer & mic system
Impedence or other specs: low

Model of guitar or bass: Takamine F360s
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: EMG AS93 active piezo transducer
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): Various unplugged rock, roots, blues and bluegrass
Reason for pickup change: Bandmate was using one, it just smoked my EMG system.

Perceived output level: Just right.
Tone: Holy grail acoustic tone. Very smooth natural and forgiving
Sonic evaluation: The EMG system I replaced is a very high quality active piezo unit.
BUT, a lot of sound guys would run the input trim too tight, thereby
pinching the headroom. This accentuates the midrange "quack" that all
piezos seem to have. So when the guy next to me showed up with a Baggs
that exhibited none of these problems, I took notice.
You have to try REALLY hard to screw the sound of this thing up - a
very valuable trait when dealing with inexperienced sound men.
The Baggs is awesome - the most natural sounding acoustic PU I'v ever
heard!

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Anything unplugged.

Comments: Acoustic PUs are constantly improving, so I don't know how long this
will be the best sounding acoustic PU on the market. But, IMHO, that's
what it is right now today. It smokes every Fishman I've ever heard.
The one caveat is, Baggs wants you to pay a luthier to install it. Even to
the point os saying the warranty is void if you don't. I installed it
myself with no trouble. I think Baggs needs to re-think their policy
on this one. I saved $85 by installing it myself.
You can get this without the mic, but it's only $20 chaeaper.Spring
for the extra $$ and get the Dual Source.
Real nice control panel (volume and mic balance) mounts in the
soundhole. I had no controls with the EMG.